Getting rid of the road tolls in the area must be priority

Dear Sir,

I am writing to you about the letter recently from Dave Murphy of Bryanstown in relation to my proposal on abolishing road tolling in Ireland.

The first thing I need to point out is that this policy proposal is mine and not Fianna Fáils.

However, it is my intention to get Fianna Fáil to adopt this policy as soon as possible.

The cost of abolishing tolls in Ireland equates to approximately half of one percent of our national tax income. This is a relatively small amount of money and could easily be absorbed into our budget next year without a concurrent rise in diesel /petrol prices. Alternatively we could fund the project with an increase in diesel /petrol taxes.

Obviously, this is the part where Dave Murphy would have to pay €5 extra a week in diesel.

I would ask Dave to consider what he would be getting in return for his €5 a week.

If the M1 was free to use for all, Drogheda and Julianstown, would have a lot less traffic congestion. How much time would Dave save going to and from work every day. Five minutes less time idling in traffic going to and from work equates to a week’s work over the year (40 hours).

Equally Dave could use that part of the M1 that was tolled in the course of his work around Louth, Meath and North Dublin. Under my proposal it would no longer cost him €6.80 per round turn to do so. How much time would this save him everyweek? There is one last thing I would ask Dave to consider. My policy is targeted at all road users in Drogheda.

It benefits those that don’t use tolls as well as those that do use tolls.

Many people of the people that have joined me in this campaign are just like you. They don’t use tolls, but they see the benefit of ridding our town of this blight. It could be achieved with a combination of general taxation and a 3 cent increase in fuel taxes per litre of diesel / petrol.

Droichead Átha needs to be united behind this policy. Please visit my website (www.jffk.ie) and help us get rid of tolls. Is mise John Kierans www.jffk.ie